When the first skiers hit the slopes at Park City Mountain Resort, the Beatles had just recorded their first album in England, John F. Kennedy was in the White House, and a brand new Chevy Impala cost about $2,700. A lot has changed since 1963, but one thing has remained the same, Park City Mountain Resort continues to offer some of the world’s most spectacular ski adventures and ranks as “North America’s #1 Resort.” And as Park City prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary ski season in 2013-14, the attractions are beyond anything imaginable in 1963.

Erik Fisher first hit the slopes at only three-years-old at the Bogus Basin Ski School Program, but skiing wasn’t his only focus for a long time. He enjoyed football throughout high school. During his junior year, he had to choose between football and skiing, and he chose skiing because it was a sport he could compete in on an individual rather than a team level and began training at Bogus Basin with enthusiasm.

Ted Ligety is a US Ski Team member well known for a string of victories in a short period of time. He started skating at only age 2, and was racing by the time he was 11. A string of victories as a teen led him on junior championships. From February of 2004 through the Torino Games, Ligety took home a silver medal from the Junior World Championships, excelled in World Cup competitions, landed on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Olympic preview issue along with veterans like Bode Miller, and took home a gold medal from the 2006 Winter Games.

Congratulations to Steven Nyman on his fine finish in the downhill event at the 2010 Olympic games. An exciting run landed Steven in 20th position overall, only 1.4 seconds behind the event gold medalist Didier Defago of the Swiss team. We are proud of all of our Team USA athletes.

Whistler Community Welcomes the Torch on the Road to Welcoming the World

Last night, a sea of shining smiles and waves of red mittens greeted Whistler’s community torchbearer, Tyler Allison, as he carried the Olympic Flame to the stage in Skiers Plaza where he lit the celebration cauldron. The supportive cheers of a proud, passionate crowd further illuminated the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay community celebration in Whistler as did performances by the Squamish Nation Eagle Song Dancers, Whistler’s very own Ali Milner, the Whistler Children’s Choir and the Whistler Singers. The festivities provided a brilliant introduction to the weeks ahead in Whistler, Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Many magical mountain moments will be taking place in the coming weeks and we can’t wait to share as many special Whistler stories as possible with The Whistler Insider subscribers during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. We look forward to experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime journey with you and we hope that you will appreciate receiving The Whistler Insider newsletter more frequently during the Games.

Congratulations to Team USA – US Ski Team member Julia Mancuso. She is heading to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Julia Mancuso grew up on Kauai Island in Hawaii and Squaw Valley, California, and at only 18-months-old, she was already up on skis–water-skis. Snow skiing didn’t follow far behind, and she and elder sister April, who was once a member of the US Ski Team development squad, joined the Mighty Might Ski program as children. She was competing in local races by age 8. This Squaw Valley skier won the gold medal in the giant slalom in 2006 in Torino, taking home the first gold for women in Alpine skiing since Picabo Street took home the gold for the super-G in 1998.

Unfortunately, Mancuso suffered with chronic hip problems and in April of that year underwent hip surgery. She’s suffered from hips and back pain since then, and her ability to make it to the 2010 Olympics had often been in doubt. She worked for NBC hosting a segment in which she toured Beijing during the summer Olympics there, which caused her a great deal of pain that many feared would end her shot at Vancouver. She struggled during the World Cup and even skied completely off the courses in 3 different events.

Proud of her Squaw Valley roots, Mancuso was welcomed home from the Torino Games with a large celebration and a lifetime ski pass to Squaw Valley. The resort even dubbed one of their runs “Julia’s Gold.”